February, 2016 Archives

10
Feb

Craigslist

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

It got dark early. He said he would wait in his car since the apartment was hard to find. I put the twenty in my back pocket and even in the headlights walking closer I could see it in his eyes, this kid with a smudge of a mustache, and before that on the phone too something empty under his voice like might as well, like nothing else to do. He called me ma’am and handed me Guitar Hero. He said he hasn’t played in a while because the Xbox was his girlfriend’s, and she took it when she left.

From Guest Contributor Brook Bhagat

After graduating with a BA in English from Vassar College, Brook landed her first paid writing job as a reporter for a small-town Colorado newspaper. She left it to travel to India, where she fell in love, got married and canceled her ticket home. She and her husband Gaurav write freelance articles for dozens of publications, including Outpost, Ecoworld and Little India. In 2013, they launched www.BluePlanetJournal.com, which she edits and writes for. She also teaches writing at a community college, is earning her MFA in Writing at Lindenwood University, and is writing a novel.

8
Feb

Coursework

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words


“Professor, here’s my coursework.”

“I see. Have you been hitting the bars in the Kuiper belt again.”

“Well, maybe.”

“And you traveled at what fraction of the speed of light?”

“Zero point nine nine seven.”

“Applying the Lorenz factor, how much extra time passed in the Earth
frame of reference compared to your personal frame of reference?”

“Erm, maybe three days.”

“Did you travel out to the Kuiper belt at the same speed?”

“Yes.”

“That’s six days more that time progressed on Earth compared to your
personal frame of reference. When was the coursework deadline, Mr.
Physics Student?”

“Oh shit.”

From Guest Contributor Ross Clement

4
Feb

TBT: The Brubaker Spectacular

by thegooddoctor in Uncategorized

The Brubaker Spectacular trundled down Main Street, festooned with ribbons and fur, exploding confetti at every corner.

The children trailed after the wagons, quivering in epileptic fits of joy. The Brubaker Spectacular had arrived.

Elephants trumpeted at the sky. Acrobats danced from the rooftops. Giants wrestled lions, while swinging from trapezes suspended over fiery pits.

The Brubaker Spectacular promised two weeks of bewitching sensation, exceeding even the most remarkable dreams of splendor.

Shops closed their doors. The school master tossed aside his exams. Reverends and ministers forgave a fortnight worth of transgressions.

Nobody ever said no to the Brubaker Spectacular.

This story first appeared way back on Feb 15, 2010. It was then published in Picasso Painted Dinosaurs, a collection of 100 100-word stories, which is currently available as a digital download on Amazon.

4
Feb

12 And A Misstep

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

1. I admit I’ve no control over my wife.
2. It’ll take your expertise to reclaim my sanity.
3. I’m in your hands.
4. I’m just not capable.
5. I’m too easily manipulated.
6. Can you rebuild my self-worth?
7. I’ve listed all the friends I rebuffed for her sake.
8. Already made up with Jimmy.
9. I’ll be seeing the rest soon.
10. Jimmy pointed out a few faults I’d missed.
11. God, even now I’m faltering.
12. I’ve told him everything.

The hitman grimaced. “Er…all I needed was the fee. Now, where does this “Jimmy” live?”

From Guest Contributor Perry McDaid

1
Feb

Periplaneta Sapiens

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The rain and wind further eroded the evidence that humans had once
dominated the Earth.

A cockroach scuttled by. Even in the scant thousand years since humans
had disappeared, Darwinian evolution had changed it. The cockroach
held itself on its hind and middle legs, while it’s forelegs
dexterously solved the problem of extracting a morsel of food from a
crack.

Another cockroach approached. The two insects greeted each other with
interlocked antennae. Evolution had been at work here too. Their
social interactions more complex and their intelligence greater.

From the ruins of one civilization, an even greater civilization would grow.

From Guest Contributor Ross Clement